The Biblioteca Comunale Mozzi Borgetti, founded in 1773, is the public library of

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza (ri ...

, located on Piazza Vittorio Veneto 2 region of

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, Italy. The name is sometimes hyphenated as ''Mozzi-Borgetti''.

History

The library was established in the building formerly belonging the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

college in the town. The library was established upon suppression of the order, and had its nuclei in the Jesuit collection of 5000 volumes. The library was established with papal support (Clement XIV and Pius VI) and the patronage of Cardinal

Guglielmo Pallotta Guglielmo Pallotta (13 November 1727 – 21 September 1795) was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal. Biography Born in Macerata, Marche, he studied hydraulics and law in Rome and then was ordained priest. Later he became auditor of Cardinal Car ...

. The library was open to the public in 1787. The collection was augmented by the donations of the lawyer Rota Francesco Mornati, and by Bartolomeo Mozzi. In 1833, the Dominican priest Tommaso Borgetti donated his collection. The 19th-century art biographer,

Amico Ricci Amico Ricci Petrocchini, Petruccini or Petruchini (1794-1862) was an Italian art historian and marquess. He is most notable for his 1834 ''Memorie storiche delle arti e degli artisti della Marca di Ancona'', the first systematic survey of art hi ...

, also endowed the library with his works and notes. With further ecclesiastical suppressions in the late 19th century, further collections were added. In 1935, it acquired the 20,000 volume library of the Castiglioni family of Cingoli (family of Pope

Pius VIII Pope Pius VIII (; born Francesco Saverio Maria Felice Castiglioni; 20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 31 March 1829 to his death in November 1830. Pius VIII's pontificate wa ...

), Also documents and books including: unpublished manuscripts of Abate Colucci, author of Antichità Picene; documents and letters of

Luigi Lanzi Luigi Antonio Lanzi (13 June 1732 – 31 March 1810) was an Italian Jesuit priest, known for his writings as an art historian and archaeologist. When he died he was buried in the church of the Santa Croce at Florence by the side of Michelan ...

, Diomede Pantaleoni, Giuseppe Neroni,

Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Belli (7 September 1791 – 21 December 1863) was an Italian poet, famous for his sonnets in Romanesco, the dialect of Rome. Biography Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Bell ...

, and Giuseppe Radiciotti, the archives of Ireneo Aleandri, Giulio Natali, and document of Ricci Petrocchini family. In addition, the library has books from the personal library of

Massimo D'Azeglio Massimo Taparelli, Marquess of Azeglio (24 October 1798 – 15 January 1866), commonly called Massimo d'Azeglio (), was a Piedmontese-Italian statesman, novelist, and painter. He was Prime Minister of Sardinia for almost three years until succee ...

. The site houses a gallery (sala degli Specchi) painted with

grotteschi Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

in the 18th century by Vincenzo Martini, Domenico Marzapani and Domenico Cervini. Presently, the library has 350,000 volumes, including 10,000 manuscripts, 300

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

and 4000 16th century publications. In addition, the library has a musical and theater collection, and a collection of photographs, including 37 images, and 56,000 negatives.Comune of Macerata
website for library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mozzi Borgetti Libraries in Macerata Buildings and structures in Macerata Museums in Marche Libraries established in 1773 1773 establishments in Italy